Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Shanks is here!

Warning: Sabo dissociates pretty bad close to the end of the chapter and does some self-harm (accidentally) while in that state. Also, Author has no experience with Dissociation or self-harm so corrections related to such behaviours are appreciated (although Sabo's dissociation can be partially blamed on cosmic mumbo jumbo so I suppose it doesn't have to be entirely accurate.

Although I did use to bite my arm when I was younger to see the teeth marks and how much of my arm I could cover (quite a lot honestly)... I realise another reason Sabo subconsciously tends to bite their arm when resorting to self-harm. You know, instead of trying to muffle themself by just covering their mouth with their hand or burying their face into a pillow or something.

Anyway, here's the chapter! I hope you like it :)

It was never brought up again. Actually, that's not true. Sabo calling Luffy their brother wasn't brought up for several months, but Ace would tease them about Makino every time they visited Foosha (they were committed to learning the names of places, and they heard it and won't forget it). It finally stopped when in April, not on the first thankfully, Ace slipped and called Makino "Mama" too.

Sabo took great pleasure in enacting payback. Although now the three of them would all occasionally and accidentally call Makino "Mama". Since they missed her birthday – which was the twenty-third of February, they remembered to ask in March – they were going to use Mother's Day as a stand-in this year. Partial payback for the fact she'd always smile teasingly when one of them slipped.

They'd never related to Ace's desire to punch a smirk before. They still didn't, but they thought they could understand it better now. They just really wanted her to stop teasing them about it.

The eighteen-year-old woman did not relent though. Not even in May, when Garp visited for Luffy's birthday, did she show mercy. At least they all got to see Garp look blindsided by the three accidentally calling Makino "Mama" (admittedly Sabo did it on purpose that time to see his reaction) and they got to use his money to go and buy some flowers for her Mother's Day gift.

The florist in Edge Town was happy to see Ace and Sabrina again. He was even more excited to see that Ace had a little brother and to meet him. Luffy was a risk, at least for Sabo's image as Sabrina, but they kept him from messing up. The gossip had already started circling before they had even left. At least someone gave them free chocolate for their Mother's Day gift. They all stole a piece of course but decided to give it to Makino anyway.

She was actually shocked silent by this. When they got back to the Bandit's Hut, Sabo and Ace got out another bouquet and a bunch of chocolate for Dadan and relished in her and the bandits' reactions to it. The people of Edge Town didn't know they were twins, after all, so they gave them stuff for both of their mothers.

"I wonder how Dadan would react if we called her 'mum'." Sabo mused while the bandits slept, and Ace was beginning to drowse himself.

He blinked sleepily and hummed considering it. "We kind of called the Old Hag that already. It was implied with the gift."

Sabo concedes that. They wouldn't get the full reaction because it'd be diluted. Still, Dadan's shocked silence, followed by an emotional tirade of complaints and false pretences, was funny. She deserved something after raising Ace all his life.

And for taking Sabo in too. She hadn't thrown them out yet and was trying in her own gruff way. She hadn't expected to become a mum and she was out of her depth, but she hadn't thrown them away or sold them out.

It was kind of nice, having two mums who supported your freedom and cared in their own ways. They were, without a doubt, better than Didit in every way possible. Sabo mentally thanked Rouge too before joining Ace in dreamland. She was a great mum too.

They wished they could have met her.

They had their first sleepover at Foosha. Neither of them had confessed they lived with bandits to the two yet. Well, Ace might have, Sabo's not there to listen to every conversation he's had. The point was they couldn't bring Luffy to sleep at their place, so it had to be in Foosha.

When they and Ace were going through their stretches, the number of which had increased with every recalled memory they had from her and all the ones Gramps used and taught them, Luffy looked at them like they were weird. He would always fall asleep after dinner, and they always did their stretches afterwards. It was the only chance they would get. The unique wake-up calls never left any time for it in the morning.

This was the first time Luffy got to watch them and see stretches. Sabo hid a smirk and proceeded to do the splits, breaking the order. Luffy got sparkly eyes at the display, Sabo curled their back leg up and curled their torso back to grab it. They both had sparkly eyes, though only for a brief instant with Ace.

"Want to learn, Luffy?" They asked, keeping their grin hidden but there was some of it in his tone. Ace locked onto that but Luffy, eager and impressed, jumped off his bed to try and attempt it too. They caught him before he could either fall or hurt himself.

A stare was burning into them, they turned to look at Ace. It wasn't a hateful glare, but it was slightly betrayed and put out. "You tricked me!"

Their grin burst out. "You were curious, I wanted to keep you there longer. It worked out well, wouldn't you say?" Ace still looked put out after realising Sabo had baited him with doing the splits years ago and was doing it again with Luffy right in front of him.

Not to mention the fact they weren't even ashamed about it. They were blatantly rubbing it into his face.

Luffy demanded attention and Sabo started walking him through each stretch. Ace did his own thing, deliberately not looking at him to signify his displeasure. It was kind of cute. Though they found it more amusing since they knew Ace wouldn't hold onto the hurt too long.

When Luffy didn't like a stretch and thought it was stupid, Sabo had to quickly call up a reason for that particular stretch, other than injury prevention. Little brat didn't care about or believe in injury prevention.

Being around Luffy wasn't all sunshine. He was stress-inducing, as evidenced by their hunts together and how often he'd get eaten, he was stubborn, only Ace could out stubborn him so far, but he was getting worse, and he was an unconsciously manipulative little bugger. He's going to get what he wants unless you manage to convince him that it's not actually as good or cool as he thinks it is. They would then remind you, that he's stubborn and damn near impossible to reason with.

Ace was no help, having managed to complete them all and moved to silently laugh behind Luffy as they attempted this. Makino wasn't any help either since she wasn't there to teach them how to do it.

They managed to boil a lot of the leg stretches into either it helps to do the splits, or it would power up their kicks. Of which the latter was true, more range of movement meant more momentum. It also helped kick taller people higher up on their bodies. If Sabo wanted, and if the move wouldn't leave them wide open, they could smash the heel of their foot down on Ace's head. They could do so without losing their balance even, which was nice.

Arm stretches were harder, though showing they could diagonally link their hands behind their back helped for a few. Ace was not this hard to teach, he always did it, provided they did it too, on the assumption there must be a reason and he'll see the effects himself soon enough.

As evidenced by his ability to do both variants of the splits, although still not as advanced as Sabo, the effects that he initially wanted to have, have indeed happened.

Later but not soon enough, Sabo managed to get Luffy to do most of the stretches. The fact that the kid had no balance whatsoever made the endeavour worse. Then they were in bed and Sabo was in the middle for some reason. They expected Luffy would want to be, but he hopped right beside them instead.

Usually, Sabo and Ace would stretch before dinner, to allow for more digestion and so the adrenaline that was called up with the excessive movement of the dynamic stretches would retreat. It was pushed to afterwards on this occasion, so they were all feeling a bit too awake to go to sleep.

Well, they did mean to teach Luffy about good pirates. They couldn't exactly use any pirates in this world as an example, it would raise questions, but there was another world with piracy that they could talk about.

"Have you ever heard of Captain Jack Sparrow?" Sabo asked, sitting up a little.

Neither showed any signs of familiarity with the name. There's a chance Luffy wouldn't even know they were speaking about a pirate.

"He's a pirate of the Caribbean, free to go and do whatever he wants." That sparked a bit of interest in Ace, but Luffy looked worried about the mention of pirates. They have failed him for too long. No longer would they allow it to continue. "Don't worry Luffy, he's an adventuring sort of pirate, not an arsehole one. How about I tell you the tale of how he recovered his ship, the Black Pearl, from cursed skeleton pirates?"

So, Sabo told them the tale of the Curse of the Black Pearl. Really the curse was on Cortez's Gold but that wasn't as interesting a title. They were both suitably horrified when they realised Barbossa and his men couldn't eat or taste anything. The tale was cut short by Luffy falling asleep, but they promised Ace (and the sleeping Luffy) to continue it next time.

Not long after they finished it but before they could tell them about Dead Man's Chest, actual pirates arrived on the island. Zero guesses as to who they were.

Sabo immediately regretted teaching Luffy about the good sort of pirates when they heard that he, the fearless little brat, had walked right up to the captain and crew and asked if they were arsehole pirates or adventure pirates. Using those exact adjectives, which meant it was definitely their fault.

The mere knowledge Luffy had done this must have shaved a year off their life. Dear Goda, why did Luffy have to be a loveable idiot? And a determined one at that.

Ace knocked him over the head for that display of stupidity. Sabo knocked Ace over the head for that and gave him an unimpressed look when he looked incredulously back at them. He huffed and though he didn't apologise, he didn't look like he'd do it again.

Shanks and his crew laughed at the antics of the children. Some of them were drunk, others were tipsy and the last was either remaining sober or beginning their attempt to get hangovers in the morning. Sabo had never felt so uncomfortable in the Party's Bar before, but Luffy and Ace wanted stories from actual pirates and Makino was serving them. They were staying.

Just because they were manifesting their disapproval towards Luffy and Ace for their actions didn't mean they weren't keeping an eye on the pirates at the same time. Sabo knew that Shanks and his crew wouldn't hurt Luffy, Shanks was already calling him Anchor. They also knew they weren't the sort to hurt kids or go on rampages. But she only remembered four names and barely knew the Red-Haired Pirates.

When they came into the bar, Sabo noticed that Shanks had almost choked on his drink at the sight of them. His gaze was firmly fixed on Ace. He was one of Roger's Pirate Apprentices. He probably recognises some of Ace's father in him, or maybe he knew Rouge and could see her in him. She and they didn't know if Rouge and the Roger Pirates knew of each other. Either way, Shanks clearly recognised Ace somehow. Sabo just didn't know if it was through his mother or father.

The father that Ace still hated the thought of.

Her memories of Roger suggested he was a bit like Luffy. There were differences of course, but the lust for adventure, desire for a good time, and willingness to get into fights were there. But these memories were getting old, and they didn't know what was canon and what was fanon.

"You're a Pirate, what do you think of Roger?" Sabo asked Shanks.

Ace froze, Luffy looked curious but saw Ace's reaction and got confused. Shanks blinked and looked at Sabo properly since the first time they entered. He probably would have looked at them if they introduced themself, but Luffy covered their introductions already. His face was still in a jovial expression but there was a darkness in his eyes, grief.

Ace noticed it and wasn't silent about it.

"You knew him?" His voice sounded complicated. A few too many emotions in it to pinpoint.

Shanks's gaze flicked between the two of them. He saw something and the frozen smile turned bittersweet. He put down his mug of rum and looked vacantly out into the distance.

"He was my Captain when I was an Apprentice." He answered honestly. "Picked me and my best friend out of the gutter and gave us a home. Without him, Buggy and I might have died in some back alley somewhere, never amounting to anything. He saved us and raised us."

Ace was frozen still, Luffy was listening intently, and Sabo wasn't able to pay attention to anything else. There was something, a gravity of some sort, in Shanks's voice as he spoke about Roger. A bomb could have gone off and Sabo was sure they wouldn't have been able to hear it.

A thought occurred to them just then. Shanks said raised, as in, Roger was probably a father figure for him. But there was a fine line, and they couldn't risk making Ace's relation to Roger obvious.

"But what was he like? The people in Edge Town call him a monster and the devil," Shanks was looking at them again. He… didn't seem insulted by the insinuation. Then again, he'd have to have learnt to laugh insults off from somewhere, "but they wouldn't have known him. So, forgive me if I take their opinions with a sea's worth of salt."

"Dahahaha, they weren't wrong. Roger was a monster," Shanks laughed. That was not exactly the reaction Sabo expected. Ace's expression darkened considerably. "He was so strong that the sky would part when he swung his sword. He was always chasing after the next adventure with no regard for his own crew. We were dragged along like we were caught in a riptide. Sailing with Roger was the craziest years of my life, and I almost died more times than I could count."

He was grinning wildly, energy filling his frame the longer he went on. His eyes were still a little in the past, but he was returning to the present to see the three of them properly. He reached up and took his hat off his head, looking at it with intense emotions.

"The Captain was a crazy son of a bitch and a monster. He could be sinking an island one second and then carrying me on his back cause I twisted my ankle the next. There's no man I respect more than him." He smiled at the hat before returning it to its current rightful place. "You know, there was this one time, back on the Oro Jackson, that Roger-"

Shanks told a story. Luffy was almost leaning off his chair from how far he leaned forward. Sabo caught him before he did fall off though. Though that involved leaning over Ace to reach him. Their twin was so focused on the story they're pretty certain he didn't notice this occurring. Even though they leaned most of their weight on him to do so.

A little curious, Sabo secretly snuck a little braid in during the story. He either didn't notice or just let it happen. They didn't know. It at least stopped them from fidgeting in their chair or swinging their legs too much during the tale. Sometimes, they wonder who's worse at sitting still between them and Luffy. Then they look at the said younger boy and remember the boy held the title of the most restless sitter, no contest.

Even during the story, he was moving about. Either bouncing in his seat or moving his limbs about without much care for his surroundings.

At least they have the title for one who could find the weirdest sitting position. It's a bleed-over from her, but it's amusing enough that they kind of like it.

Roger really did sound like a Luffy-grade idiot from the story. A part of them wondered if reincarnation without memories happened. Because her knowledge of Luffy matches with some of the stuff Shanks was saying.

Briefly, they almost saw Roger saying he believes his son would be the one to find and reveal the One Piece. Rayleigh then reminds Roger he didn't have a son. They were underwater and it was after he and Oden heard Sea Kings talking? Were they remembering this all correctly?

Not all the details come back to them, but they would have to say that since Ace adopted Luffy as his brother, then through technicalities, Roger's son would be the one to do so. Not that it actually matters and it's all conjecture anyway.

The time soon came for Ace and Sabo to leave, lest they be forced to traverse the jungle after dark. They were good, but not that good yet. Not that it stopped Luffy from protesting and resisting their leave however he could.

Sabo tried to set him down on a seat, but like his namesake, Luffy clung to them and refused to be released. If Ace wasn't obviously distracted and had a shorter temper than normal at the moment, the kid may have tried doing this to him. But Luffy was good with people and knew not to test Ace at the moment. It didn't stop him from capitalising on Sabo's weakness to puppy dog eyes.

They blamed her. From what they could remember, Character Sabo could say no to him. Sure, he was nicer at it and sometimes caved anyways, but he could. Nine times out of ten, they couldn't.

Luckily, now was one of those times they could, even though they could feel the tightening in their chest and a bit of bile in the back of their throat. They'll be getting another nightmare tonight, but even that wasn't enough incentive to say yes and get rid of the sensation.

Shanks and the Red-Haired Pirates waved them off with promises of more stories later. They hadn't been told they go into bandit-infested forests that were also filled with wildlife larger and more aggressive than there should be on an East Blue Island. They would have reacted if they found out the twins would be going into such a dangerous place, at least for normal people.

As they walked out of the village and even started running through the jungle, Ace progressively got into a fouler and fouler mood. Sabo could speak up now, get him to release his anger before it boiled over. They could also wait until it does, they weren't completely sure why he was angry in the first place.

It likely stemmed from Roger somehow, but the uncertainty behind the exact reason why and how it would manifest left them waiting anxiously instead. Ace stopped before they even got to the bandit's hut. Sabo stopped too.

So, the issue was with them too. They're going to feel terrible tomorrow after they wake up.

Ace's fist trembled. His knuckles were white from how tightly he held them. His entire body was held stiff, trembling with the effort he was putting into holding his rage back. He tried breathing; it came out too harsh. It wouldn't be able to calm him down.

"Sabo." His voice was tight. Facing downwards, his fringe which would naturally fall to the sides of his head instead of over his eyes, Sabo couldn't see what expression he was making. "Why?!"

"I figured a pirate would be a better source of information on him." It was the only thing they could say, they couldn't think of anything else. Their stomach rolled in their gut. Nausea rose and they could taste bile again.

"That's not-." Ace cut himself off and rounded on a tree instead. It fell from only one blow. Something in Sabo, feeling disconnected from reality, wondered if they could do that now too. The rest of them could only watch it happen and know that release wouldn't have actually helped him.

He kept his back to them as he asked again but differently. "How the hell did you fucking know to ask him?" He shifted, about to turn around but he stopped himself. "Why the hell didn't you look surprised he sailed with Roger? His own crew didn't bloody know he did. You know a lot of things, Sabo. I don't fucking know how you do, but that wasn't something you could have fucking known."

Of all the things that could have forced this interaction, this wasn't what Sabo had expected. A part of them said Ace should be trusted, because if they couldn't trust Ace with this then clearly, they never trusted him at all. If they didn't trust him then they wouldn't deserve his trust. It was that simple.

Another part of them, the part that had always been larger, reminded them that it could cost them Ace. That alone always stood as a more powerful argument than anything the other side could cook up.

They must have been silent for too long because Ace spun around, grabbed them, and rammed them into a tree. It should have hurt their back, they felt nothing. Ace's seething, confused gaze pierced their soul. It hurt far more than any physical pain they should have felt.

"Answer me!" Ace shouted at them. It sounded too quiet, like a whisper instead of the roar it should have been.

They tried to speak, but they couldn't hear their own voice. What they tried to say could have been wildly different from what they actually said. They could only try to read Ace to see what they said but even then, they didn't know what reaction they'd get from what they wanted to say.

Heck, they couldn't even remember what they wanted to say, and it had only been a few seconds. Something was wrong, specifically with them. From the way Ace pulled them back and shoved them into the tree again, definitely damaging some of the old tree's truck from the force he used, whatever they said wasn't what he needed or wanted to hear. There was no time to reflect on themself or the way the world felt like drawings instead of reality.

If someone told them they were watching a show or dreaming instead of actually being pinned against a tree by Ace, they'd believe them. It prevented them from feeling embarrassed or any emotion at all really when they ended up throwing up, partially on Ace.

He dropped them like a sack of hot bricks. They couldn't hold themself up and collapsed in a heap atop the pile of their own stomach acid and mostly digested food. Laundry's going to suck but they couldn't work up any motivation to move.

They blinked. It was the usual chaos of lunch at the bandits now. The rice in front of them was barely touched but none of the bandits would steal it anyway. They couldn't see Ace. Something panged inside them, almost like pain, but it felt too pale compared to being dissolved or being forced to be something they could never be for the affection they'd never gain.

Something was missing. They just couldn't remember what.

Maybe they should sleep on it, it felt like a clue. No one noticed as they left the half-eaten plate of rice behind and wandered back into their room.

Sabo woke up biting their covered wrist. They tried wrenching it out of their mouth, but their jaw was locked in place. Something inside their hand – or was it their wrist? – cracked instead. They screamed, muffled though it was, through the leather bracelet in their mouth.

"If you hurt somewhere else then you shouldn't feel the pain there anymore, right?" Her dad said.

They clawed at the left side of their body, images of burns that should decorate that side later anyway bringing it to their attention. A vivid overlay of the scratches that kept adorning her arms showed on his arms. They were so easy to make real. Or were they already real? What does real even look like?

Someone's grabbing them. The hands were too large, unfamiliar. Male, adult voices, like the one from her death, shouted at them, angry. They, she, he, fought back.

Something's wrong. Something's missing. They, she, he was alone, no one familiar nearby. Her, his, their arm was broken, his, their, her back was bruised and chest ached. They, he, she could hear other's voices, panicked and angry at her, him, them.

Everything was real, nothing was real. This was a nightmare, he, they, she was awake.

The nothingness was bliss, but it was empty. So painfully empty and lonely.

I haven't read Ace's Journey, but I have found out (through fanfics) about how he found and ate his devil fruit. Sabo could be there too, which means they could eat it instead... (Looks at canon and at how Ace became over-reliant on his Devil Fruit... Sabo does see an argument as to why he shouldn't eat it)

Convince me on which path I should take (cause, unfortunately, there's no sharing the power).